Opening of the exhibition ro the 100-year formation of Czechoslovakia

In the Museum of the Political History of Russia, a new exhibition has opened called, “The Czechoslovakian State: 1918-1989. To the 100-year Formation of Czechoslovakia.” The exhibition covers more than a 70-year period of the country’s history: starting with the First Czechoslovakian Republic, and later the Czechoslovakian Socialist Republic.

The exhibition was sponsored by the Czech Consulate General in St. Petersburg. Representatives of the Czech, Polish, Slovak and Lithuanian consulates attended the opening. Deputy Director of the Museum of the Political History of Russia Liliya Kuraeva recalled that the museum has long collaborated with the General Consulate of the Czech Republic in St. Petersburg and has on several occasions held exhibitions dedicated to the history of the country. According to Kuraeva, the new project presents a modern view on events which influenced the development of the democratic states of Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Consul General of the Czech Republic in St. Petersburg Karel Kunle thanked the museum for helping to organize the exhibition. “It may seem strange to mark the 100th
anniversary of a state which no longer exists, but for us, it is primarily a means of remembrance and a sign of respect for what the Czechoslovakian Republic was,” said Kunle. He recalled that this year marks not only the 100-year anniversary of the founding of Czechoslovakia, but also the anniversary of the signing of the Munich Agreement, which in the Czech Republic is simply known as the Munich Conspiracy. The Munich Agreement, which annexed to Nazi Germany the border lands of Czechoslovakia inhabited by Germans, was signed on the 30th of September 1938, by representatives of Great Britain, France, Germany and Italy. This event not only opened the opportunity for Hitler to divide Czechoslovakia, but also became a prelude to the Second World War.

A separate part of the exhibition is dedicated to the Prague Spring. Exactly 50 years ago, in August of 1968, an attempt to create socialism with a “human face” in Czechoslovakia was repressed. Troops from signatory countries to the Warsaw Pact were brought into the country.

The exhibition will be open in the atrium of the museum until the 17th
of October.

The project involved the participation of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Television, the Czech Press Agency, the City of Prague Museum, the National Film Archive, the National Gallery in Prague, the National Library, the National Museum, the Slovak National Gallery, the Military History Institutes in Prague and Bratislava.